Relating to Zion as a Unified
Self: Part Two

In Part One of this letter,
I cited the following
teaching of Rabbi Samson
Raphael Hirsch regarding the
“Shema” – the daily
proclamation of the Divine
Oneness and Unity:

“You must comprehend your
life with all its diversity
as proceeding from this One
and you must direct it
towards this One, in order
that your life may be a
unity just as your God is
One.”

Dear Friends,

As we discussed in previous
letters, the Word Zionist
Organization became
dominated by leaders who
sought to have nationalism
replace the spiritual path
of the Torah as the raison
d’etre of the People of
Zion. According to their
nationalistic ideology,
having our own land is not a
means to a higher spiritual
goal, but an end in itself,
and we cited the following
example of their view from
the writings of Jacob
Klatzkin, a leading Zionist
thinker:

“In longing for our land we
do not desire to create
there a base for the
spiritual values of Judaism.
To regain our land is for us
an end in itself – the
attaining of a free national
life.” (The Zionist Idea
by Arthur Hertzberg).

Our land is Zion; thus, the
term “Zionism” became the
name of the nationalistic
ideology which viewed Zion
as “an end in itself.” The
term “Zionism” does not
appear in our Sacred
Scriptures, and it was
coined by Dr. Nathan
Birnbaum, who became the
Secretary General of the
World Zionist Organization.
He later returned to
Judaism, and he became the
Secretary General of Agudath
Israel, a Torah-committed
organization.

There are some Jews who
think that it is possible to
have two ideologies –
Judaism and Zionism – guide
their lives, since both
ideologies recognize that
Zion is our homeland. When I
began to explore my Jewish
roots, I tried to understand
both Judaism and Zionism,
and I discovered that there
were major areas of conflict
between these two
ideologies. I wanted to have
a unified life, and I
realized that I would need
to decide which ideology
would be the unifying truth
which would guide all areas
of my life.

Given my desire to have a
unified life, I was greatly
influenced by the following
teaching of Judaism: The
human being was created as a
unity of body and soul, as
it is written:

“And Hashem God formed the
human of dust from the
ground, and He blew into his
nostrils the soul of life;
and the human became a
living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

The body was created to
serve the soul, and Rabbeinu
Bachya, a noted sage and
biblical commentator of the
13th century,
writes:

“When the body assists the
soul, both are united in the
service of Hashem, the
Blessed One.” (Kad HaKemach
– Atzeres)

When the human being was
created, the body and soul
were united in the service
of Hashem; thus, after the
creation of the human being,
the nature of this sacred
service is revealed:

“And Hashem God took the
human being and placed him
in the Garden of Eden to
serve it and to guard it.”
(Genesis 2:15)

From where did Hashem take
the human being? In a
previous letter, we
discussed the tradition that
the human being was taken
from Mount Moriah, the site
of Zion’s future Temple, for
Zion was the place where the
human being was created as a
unity of body and soul. And
the unified being that was
created in Zion was given an
altruistic mission – to
serve and protect God’s
Garden.

Judaism teaches that this
altruistic mission is a
prototype for all the
mitzvos of the Torah path.
The Divine call to “serve”
the Garden is a prototype of
mitzvos aseh – the
mitzvos of the Torah which
call upon us to engage in
actions which nurture and
elevate the world, including
ourselves; moreover, the
call to “guard” the Garden
is a prototype of mitzvos
lo sa’asay – the mitzvos
of the Torah which prohibit
actions which damage and
degrade the world, including
ourselves. (Tikunei Zohar
55)

Judaism also teaches that
when we, as a nation,
fulfill the Torah in the
Land of Zion, we return to
the ideal state of the
Garden of Eden. This return
will take place in the
messianic age; thus, the
Prophet
Ezekiel mentions that those
who witness the fulfillment
of the messianic prophecies
regarding Zion will say:

"This very Land, which
had been desolate, has
become like the Garden of
Eden!" (Ezekiel 36:35)

According to the
nationalistic ideology of
Zionism, our life in Zion is
an end in itself. According
to Judaism, our unified life
in Zion is to lead us, all
humanity, and all creatures
back to the Garden. In this
spirit, the Prophet Isaiah
proclaimed the following
vision of the messianic age:

“Then a wolf shall live with
a lamb, and a leopard shall
lie with a kid; and a calf,
a lion cub, and a fatling
will be together, and a
small child will lead them.
A cow and a bear will graze
and their young will lie
down together; and a lion,
like cattle will eat hay. A
suckling infant will play by
a viper’s hole; and a newly
weaned child will stretch
his hand towards an adder’s
lair. They will neither
injure nor destroy in all of
My sacred mountain, for the
earth will be filled with
knowledge of Hashem as water
covering the sea bed.”
(Isaiah 11: 6-9).

The above teachings led me
to the following
realization: A land which is
an end in itself is a “dead
end”; however, a land which
leads us back to the Garden
through a unified life is a
“live end.” I therefore
chose the path of Judaism,
for I am seeking the “live
end” for all life!